Miami’s 11 coolest Kickstarter projects

Miami’s a “side-hustle” kind of city. It’s full of people creating awesome things — whether that’s part of their day job or their passion project outside of the 9-to-5 grind.

But while ideas are free, execution costs cash money. As the great Rick Ross once said “Everyday I’m hustlin’,” and so it’s no surprise that Miami’s killing the game on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform that lets you pitch your projects and get your projects funded by anyone with a laptop.

Out of six categories – music, film and video, publishing, art, games, and design – Miamians were using Kickstarter the most for producing films and videos.

We got curious and started to explore the data ourselves, too. On Kickstarter’s site, you can sort through all of the Miami-based projects here. Or select another city and see what they’re creating!

These are the 11 projects we thought were the coolest Kickstarter-funded endeavors coming out of the Magic City. Some have already been funded and others are only a partly there, but all of them make you wanna take that crazy idea and try to make it work.

Courtesy of Miami XL

The cover of Shiraz the Cookbook, featuring orange cardamom cake (Courtesy of Shiraz)

Raven has run more than 122,000 miles on South Beach. He’s now 66 years old. (Credit: Roshan Nebhrajani/The New Tropic)

Success stories

Miami XL
A Broad City-esq comedy web series about Miami created by two local women. (We wrote about them here, too!)
Earned: $3,186 of $3,000 goal with 41 backers

Baba Yaga arts wagon
A traveling performing arts wagon presenting free original performances around the city while building community.Earned: $25,088 pledged of $25,000 goal with 218 backers

Bookleggers
This is a non-profit indie mobile library that gives away free books around South Florida. They used a kickstarter to build a semi-permanent bookshelf like Bookbox on select walls around the city.
Earned: $6,889 of $6,305 goal with 112 backers

Running with Raven documentary
This is the story of “The Raven,” a South Beach running legend who completed 110,000 streak miles. (We did a story about him here.)
Earned: $29,015 of $25,000 goal with 270 backers

Wynwood coloring book
This was a 64-page coloring book for adults inspired by the street art in Wynwood. (We did a story about this here.)
Earned: $5,125 of $5,000 goal with 126 backers

EvenGrind Coffee Grinder
This is a manual grinder that provides even, freshly ground coffee beans and was named as a Kickstarter Staff Pick.
Earned: $33,395 of $30,000 goal with 817 backers

Active and fully-funded

Gear manager
This is a smart gear management system for creative professionals that tracks your gear and lets you know if something that should be there is missing.
Earned: $112,503 of $60,000 goal with 699 backers

Shiraz the cookbook
The Shiraz cookbook features Persian comfort food crafted from traditional and modern family recipes. (We wrote about it here!)
Earned: $7,194 of $1,800 goal with 143 backers

Modern Acrylic challah board
The designers’ goal with this entire collection is to create Judaica products that honor Jewish tradition in style, this modern acrylic challah board is their latest design.
Earned: $36,239 of $15,000 goal with 127 backers

Active but not quite there yet

Cindy Lou’s cookies
A local baker is is reaching out to the community to launch Miami’s first wholesale artisan cookie shop.
Earned: $13,195 of $30,000 goal with 43 backers

Travel bag and jacket
A multipurpose travel bag that zips out into a jacket, so you can wear your luggage if you so please.
Earned: $6,649 of $7,500 goal with 38 backers